Newsbriefs 8 October 2007 Morning
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan
http://www.slb.ph/newsbriefs.htm
Senate bent on continuing NBN probe (Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines -- Some senators are determined to continue their probe of the $329-million National Broadband Network deal despite a suspicious impeachment complaint filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House of Representatives.
"It's a necessary step toward stronger laws for the protection of taxpayers' money. Nothing has changed nor has our commitment to look into the ZTE broadband deal weakened," said Sen. Manuel Roxas II in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Impeach plot may backfire on Arroyo - solons (Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines -- The alleged plot by suspected allies of the Palace to protect President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from being impeached, at least for a year, might "backfire" on her, both administration and opposition congressmen warned Sunday.
A senior administration lawmaker identified with Speaker Jose de Venecia said that given her reported conflict with the House Speaker, the President might actually find herself facing an impeachment court even on the basis of a supposedly weak complaint filed by lawyer Roel Pulido.
The lawmaker said that should De Venecia decide to do so he could easily muster the required 80 signatures to automatically transmit the impeachment complaint to the Senate. He added that it would not be difficult for the Speaker to drag the 24-member minority bloc into the bandwagon.
"Assuming that the President has 140 congressmen on her side and the Speaker has 'only' 100, she's in trouble," the lawmaker told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net. He asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of his position in the majority bloc.
Arroyo: Protect cyber education from unnecessary controversies (abs-cbnNEWS.com)
Aside from bringing in more than $2 billion in investments from China and India, President Gloria Arroyo said the government's cyber education project must be protected "from unnecessary controversy" to ensure that the world-class information communications technology (ICT) program is implemented without further glitches.
The President made the statement upon her arrival last night from a five-day trip to China and India, ABS-CBN reported.
CBCP hits P1-B condom fund (www.philstar.com)
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has called \on legislators to spend on projects that would alleviate poverty and provide free education to poor children, instead of spending P1 billion for the purchase of contraceptives, CBCP president and Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said in a statement Saturday.
"We hope it is not true that Congress plans to appropriate P1 billion for the purchase of condoms, birth control pills and other 'reproductive health' products to control population growth. It if is true, we categorically object to it and instead strongly recommend that the one billion pesos be directly appropriated for hunger and poverty alleviation projects, as well as for free education of extremely poor children."
Small enterprises get more perks (www.manilastandardtoday.com)
A major bill just approved by the Senate could rev up financially strapped industries, spur the growth of the economy, and generate more jobs.
The bill provides a package of liberal incentives to micro, small and medium enterprises through amendments to the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises (Republic Act 6977).
Senator Mar Roxas II, principal author of the bill, said micro, small and medium enterprises comprise 99.6 percent of local businesses and employ 70 percent of the country's total work force. But he noted that their full potential has yet to be achieved, as they currently contribute only about 30 percent to the national economy.
Pacquiao wins, retains WBC title; Barrera off to retirement (www.gmanews.tv)
Manny Pacquiao kept his WBC International super featherweight title via unanimous decision against Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The judges scored the fight this way: Jerry Roth, 118-109; Glenn Trowbridge 118-109; and Tom Schreck 115-112.
Barrera, now 33, had announced that this would be his last fight before he retired.
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